{"id":973670,"date":"2019-11-22T07:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T14:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=915302"},"modified":"2019-11-22T07:01:29","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T14:01:29","slug":"buju-banton-unveils-steppa-video-alongside-new-roc-nation-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/music-news\/buju-banton-unveils-steppa-video-alongside-new-roc-nation-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Buju Banton Unveils \u2018Steppa\u2019 Video Alongside New Roc Nation Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In 1994, the Jamaican singer Buju Banton released a track titled \u201cMurderer,\u201d unleashing a torrent of fury and shame at killers \u2014 \u201cWhy did you disobey the first commandment?\u201d \u2014 and any government that uses them: \u201cSome are murdering people to collect medals\/Stop committing dirty acts for the high officials\/You could wash your hands until you can\u2019t wash them any more\/It is like an epidemic and you won\u2019t find a cure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Roughly 25 years later, Banton is still exploring similar themes: In his new video for \u201cSteppa,\u201d a roaring reggae<\/a> cut, the singer defuses a shoot-out, peacefully disarming gang members by collecting their guns before they are put to violent use. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA certain culture has taken on a life of its own and become a monster,\u201d Banton tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThings are not the way they used to be \u2014 crime and violence, the gap between the rich and the poor,\u201d he continues. \u201cWasn\u2019t that always my role, to bring some civility and some consciousness to human existence, to the music? I\u2019ve not changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Banton released his new video on Friday, the same day he revealed a partnership with Jay-Z\u2019s Roc Nation, which also manages stars like Rihanna and Lil Uzi Vert, and Island Records. \u201cSteppa\u201d is part of a flurry of a singles \u2014 \u201cBagga Mouth,\u201d \u201cFalse Pretense,\u201d \u201cCountry for Sale,\u201d and \u201cTrust\u201d \u2014 that Banton has put out this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This spurt of productivity is a welcome change for one of Jamaica\u2019s biggest contemporary stars. In December 2009, Banton was arrested on drug charges. His first trial ended in a hung jury, but in February 2011, just weeks after Banton\u2019s <\/span>Before the Dawn<\/span><\/i> was awarded Best Reggae Album at the Grammys, the singer <\/span>was convicted<\/span><\/a> for <\/span>conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm related to drug trafficking, and using a telephone to facilitate drug trafficking<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Banton was <\/span>initially sentenced to 10 years in prison<\/span><\/a>, though that was later reduced. He served time in Georgia until <\/span>his release in December 2018<\/span><\/a>. In March, he performed to a crowd of more than 30,000 people at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Banton then embarked on the Long Walk to Freedom tour. At a subsequent performance in Barbados, he connected with Rihanna, who later posted a picture of the two<\/a> on Instagram. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Popular on Rollingstone <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Rihanna also brought Banton into Roc Nation\u2019s orbit. \u201cThe connection came about through my association with the great queen, Miss Rihanna herself,\u201d Banton explains. \u201cA great guy who works alongside her, Omar Grant\u201d \u2014 who helped A&R albums like <\/span>Talk That Talk <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Anti <\/span><\/i>and now serves as co-president of Roc Nation \u2014 \u201cwe started working together on small stuff, and the idea [of collaborating] came about.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Banton says he shares at least two priorities with Roc Nation. First, \u201cto do things independently and show that we can foster a unity in our people that can\u2019t be emulated anywhere else.\u201d Second, he adds, \u201ctheir affinity to the prison reform situation that\u2019s going on over in America, that\u2019s something I can identify with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Banton hopes to release a new album soon, but he\u2019s coy about his plan for the coming year. \u201cI\u2019m without a plan,\u201d he says. Then he reconsiders. \u201cA plan \u2014 that is too much of a strong word. We\u2019re working on a fellowship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1994, the Jamaican singer Buju Banton released a track titled \u201cMurderer,\u201d unleashing a torrent of fury and shame at killers \u2014 \u201cWhy did you disobey the first commandment?\u201d \u2014 and any government that uses them: \u201cSome are murdering people to collect medals\/Stop committing dirty acts for the high officials\/You could wash your hands until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-973670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 23:23:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KFMU Solar Powered Radio","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=973670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=973670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=973670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kfmu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=973670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}